1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to canopies for pickup trucks and, more particularly, to a canopy having a compactly stored, rigid frame covered by a flexible shell.
1. Description of the Prior Art
Canopies for covering the beds of pickup trucks have become increasingly popular in recent years. These canopies include a top, a pair of sides which usually contain windows, a front and a back. The entire canopy is generally a unitary structure fabricated of a sheet metal such as aluminum. These canopies are fairly expensive and, since they form a unitary structure, they cannot be compactly stored.
In an attempt to avoid the above-mentioned problems, canopies have been devised which include a shell of flexible material snugly positioned over a rigid frame. The frames are generally formed by joining elongated, generally tubular, members together at appropriate places. A serious disadvantage of these conventional canopies is that the roof and sometimes the sides sag presenting the appearance of a tent covering the bed of the truck. Furthermore, when the truck is traveling at high rates of speed, the flexible material flaps causing rapid wear of the flexible material and produces undesirable noise.